No Fate
by Food Samples
Summary: Only nineteen, Kyle Reese is about to volunteer for more than he thought.  I do not own these characters or Terminator.
1. Volunteer

I walked into the dimly lit room. The glow of a small lamp was barely visible in the corner.

John Conner.

His scar, the same as I remember, reflected clearly off the shadows of the lamp. His eyes were red and tired but his face was strong and expressionless. He looked up from his desk.

I froze forgetting what I had come here for.

"Reese," he said calmly, beckoning me with his hand to come.

I began to walk ahead, the pain of my previous mission wounds disappearing as I walked toward the great legend.

_I can't believe I'm doing this._ I thought to myself as I reached his small desk.

The small glow of the lamp was just bright enough to cover the entire top of the desk. Neatly placed on it were a few papers, a small writing pen, and an old type of tape recorder I have never seen before. The tape inside of it titled, 'John'.

Seeing where my gaze was, John Conner slowly took the recorder and slipped it in the desk's drawer. I instantly felt foolish.

I had asked to meet with him and all I have done so far is peep in his business. I have made myself look weak; he will never accept me now. John looked at me.

"Curiosity is not a sin; it merely shows you are very cautious and aware of your surroundings." He said smiling at my panicked expression.

"Yes sir," was the only thing I could pull out of my jumbled up mind.

He leaned back in his chair a little looking at me.

"So Reese, what are you here for?"

My tongue twisted in my mouth... "I…" I said swallowing.

_Don't show fear._

"I came here about the mission you sent out." I said my voice strong.

He nodded acknowledging the fact. "Yes?"

I stood up straight. "I would like to volunteer sir."

His eyes for a moment flashed to his desk drawer. In the next second, he was looking back up at me. He cleared his throat.

"You are the youngest in AH5 group?" He said changing the subject.

I nodded. "Yes sir."

"If my memory stands, the AH5 group is highest ranking, is it not?"

I became shifty with worry. Was he making a point why he should not accept my request? Or why he should demote me?

I swallowed down the thickening fear welling in my throat. "Yes sir." I said keeping my voice as fearless as possible.

"I have a question for you Reese."

_Oh, here it comes._ I thought to myself, preparing for the final blow.

"Why do you want to do this?"

I was not prepared for this. I took a breath in, words coming to me.

"I feel it's what I'm meant to do, sir. I know this mission is very important to you and I know that I am not your most skilled fighter… but I will train. I will train my hardest and I will become the great warrior that is needed to accomplish this mission. I believe I can do this. I really do. If these terminators succeed, we would all cease to exist right alongside you. You are the only hope we have."

He looked at me showing no expression in his hazel eyes. I stared at him, wanting him to know how true my words really were. Finally the thin silence was broken.

"I have seen you fight, Reese. Not only have I seen you fight, I have fought along beside you."

The brief memory flashed through my mind.

The flashing lights of red, the thick smell of blood and burnt hair, and Skynet's detention center crumbling all around us.

I have never been able to shake the wrenching fear churning inside of me of that day.

"I knew since the day you joined the resistance, you were meant for great things."

I glanced down at the little red strip of clothing on my torn jacket, its brilliant red color hard to miss in the brown.

I had gotten that the day I joined the Resistance.

I will never forget that moment.

Nor the friends I lost with it.

John paused, a distracted look in his eyes.

"You know you will never be able to return Kyle," he said looking me in the eye, my first name hanging in the air like heavy clouds.

I blinked, thinking of Star, the only family I had, who was to turn nine this year.

"I understand." I said looking at him.

He leaned forward in his chair, setting his rough hands on the table.

"You are very brave, Kyle Reese. I could not have asked for anyone better for the job….You begin training in the morning."

Unable to control it, my mouth formed in to a small smiled and my face brightened.

"Thank you, sir. I will not fail you."

John Conner stood and shook my hand.

"I know you won't" He said, his face happy but his eyes, now clearly visible, contained a sadness buried deep inside them.

He turned walking back to his desk and telling me to come there.

"I have something for you." He said reaching into his small desk.

Out of the drawer, he took out a small folded up picture and closed the drawer gently. He looked at in his hand and stroked the edge of it with his thumb.

"This is very special to me," he said pausing, "but I want you to have it."

He said holding out the folded picture in his hand toward me. I shook my head.

"No, I can't—"

I said not wanting him to give up what he was giving me.

"Please, Reese. I want you to have it." He said his eyes sincere.

I took it in my hand, the thin paper so torn and faded.

I slowly opened it, careful not to rip the fine crease down the middle.

My heart froze.

I stared down at the most…_beautiful_ woman I had ever seen.

Her long blonde hair spilled over the pink bandana which was wrapped around her head like a halo and the bright sun above her made her shine a heavenly glow.

But under all of that, her eyes were the one thing that got me.

They were sad.

She looked as if she was alone in a huge world, although her face would never show it.

_What could make her feel that way?_

I wanted to help her, tell her everything was going to be alright and that she didn't have to be alone.

But I couldn't, I was years and years away from her.

And I would have to wait.

I promised myself, as I looked at that old picture in front of me, that I would do whatever it took to get back to Sarah Conner. I looked up at John. He smiled at me.

"You are released soldier. You have a long day tomorrow."

I nodded, slipping the picture into my pocket, and began to walk away.

"Reese," I heard John call behind me.

I turned. He paused, a serious look on his face.

"Thank you,"

He said his voice a loud whisper.

I nodded, smiling as I turned to leave.

The door snapped shut behind me.


	2. Just a test

I ruffled my hand through my short, brown hair; the layer of dust in my hair falling to my shoulders. Looking at the dust on my shoulder, I thought.

I thought about where it had been, where it was from, and where it will go. It seems there is no way to tell exactly where we will go and what we will do.

_There's no fate but what we make._ I thought to myself, John Conner's message echoing in my tired mind.

I wiped the thin layer of dirty sweat off my face as I tightened the straps on my harness. Even though I had been training for four long years, I had never really gotten used to it…Free falling.

It was all part of my training, a test. They say that time travel should feel like falling…falling through time. So that's how I got myself here, in this helicopter, 12,000 feet off of the solid ground, about to make the plunge.

With each whip of the blade above me, I could feel us getting higher, my ears beginning to pop. I stuck my hand in my pocket. The small picture gently placed in my pocket felt smooth against my rough hand. I lightly stroked the corner of it, a sense of hope filling me instantly.

"Ready?" the pilot said giving me a thumbs-up.

I stood, giving him a thumbs-up back, and walked over the drop doors. I breathed in.

It's just another test.

"Ready!" I yelled over the roar of the wind.

Time slowed, my heart pounded, the suspense chilling me to the core.

All the sounds around me, except my slow breathing, disappeared completely…_click._

The floor disappeared beneath me.

I was sucked out of the airplane, my heart falling to my stomach as all the precious air was sucked out of my lungs. I titled my body, slowing the frightening fall, and watched as the ground rushed toward me. The cold air holding me up was like an invisible balloon, slowly floating to the earth.

I smiled the familiar, horrifying adrenaline rushing to my heart. My watch beeped. I felt for my hook, wrapped my cold hands around it, and pulled.

Nothing happened.

_Oh no_, I tugged on the strap again.

"Come on!" I yelled the vicious wind ripping my words away. In my head piece a faint voice spoke to me.

"Reese, why aren't you pulling your Shute? You're almost past the safe zone."

I spoke into my microphone. "My Shute's jammed! It won't open!" I said staring at the ground as it grew closer and imagining what the impact would feel like.

"Pull the extra Shute!" I heard the voice yell at me.

_Of course! The extra Shute…why didn't I think of that?_ I felt around my back pack. Where was it? The thick feeling of fear was beginning to sink in.

With a sigh of relief, I found it.

_Come on_. I pleaded as I pulled the small hook.

Nothing happened.

"Past the safe zone, Reese! You're going to land off course!" The voice in my ear piece said. My mind fired. Instantly unstrapping my pack, I held it in my hands and ripped a hole just big enough for a parachute to slip out.

I ripped the camouflaged parachute it out of its pack. Taking the cloth with my trembling hands I undid the folds praying it would catch the roaring wind beneath me. I threw it above me and held onto the handle for dear life.

_Please._ I thought grasping to the small once of hope I had left.

_Whoosh._

The parachute opened above me. The handle jerked, threatening to escape, but I wouldn't let it. My decent slowed but the ground was still deathly closer than it ever should be. Not knowing whether I would survive the land, I thought of Sarah.

I guess I wouldn't be able to see her after all. Her beautiful face, her precious smile…I would never have the chance to make her happy.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the deathly impact to hit.

_Boom_.

My shoulder hit first; then my head. Pain surged through me as the fuzzy world around me darkened. I blinked; amazed I was alive at all.

A medium sized object just barely made it into my blurring vision. _The Resistance? No, it can't be._ I thought trying to focus more clearly on the object.

It moved at a faster pace toward me its red eyes glaring at me…red eyes.

Terminator.

I stumbled to my feet, the pain in my right arm screaming as I cradled it gently in my left.My head pounded at my temples but I forced my legs to push ahead anyway.

_Turn off the pain. Control it._ I chanted in my head. _Focus on survival. _

I needed a weapon. Just barely in the distance, I saw an abandoned helicopter shinning in the hot sun. I ran.

Bullets began to explode all around me, sending up small tuffs of sand flying everywhere. After a few moments of being shot at I had calculated his shooting pattern.

His left hand gun had a rusty and broken locator but small and powerful bullets. If I was hit with one of those I'd be done for sure. His right hand, however, had a good locator and was closer to the target, but the bullets…if I got hit with one of those I would probably survive...if the hit wasn't too fatal.

I favored the right side as much as I could as I stumbled across the hot desert. Running into the helicopter a smell of decaying bodies engulfed me. I looked in the back and saw two figures covered in dried blood.

One of them, I spotted, a flare gun in their holster. Carefully, I slipped the small gun out of the man's jacket. I looked at the red on his resistance coat distracted for just a moment. _Boom_.

The helicopter tilted violently to the side making me slip out the doors and land on the dirt ground. The Terminator was just barley five feet away from me. He slowly turned his metal head, making small beeping noises as he identified me.

His eye's sharpened and he began to stumble towards me. I backed up, frantically trying to cock the small gun. He stopped and aimed his left gun right at my chest. There was no way it could miss at this distance. My flare gun snapped shut and I instantly aimed and pulled the trigger.

The flare hit the terminator with a loud _bang_. Even though it didn't harm the Terminator, it did distract him.

In that small moment of freedom, I quickly sprang to my feet and raced around the helicopter. After reloading my gun I pointed it skywards, took a breath, and shot into the sky.

What I had just done will determine if I will live or not. It will either notify the resistance that I'm here, or it will give away my cover to other surrounding T600s. It was life or death. The T600 was on my trail again.

"Reese!" I heard a small voice shout.

Grabbing my half broken ear bud, I shoved in my ear. "Reese, here."

It was John Conner's voice. "Reese! We're coming to get you. Stay low. Have any T600s spotted you yet?"

I heard the Terminator beginning to shuffle my way. I began to re-load my gun. _Boom_. I shot him in the chest.

"He's after me, sir."

"What weapon do you have?" I looked at the rest of my bullets in the small bag. One left.

"A…flare gun, sir." I said as I loaded my last flare. John was silent.

"Sir—"

The Terminator grabbed me by the coat and threw me into the sky. Shooting my arms out to break my fall, the familiar pain in my right arm burst through me once more.

I rolled onto my stomach moaning as the pain in my arm slowly seeped through me. The Terminator aimed his right gun at me and I could hear the click as his locator locked on my spot.

_This can't be it. I'm supposed to save Sarah. I'm supposed to protect her. I can't die here. I can't-_


End file.
